He began umpiring Little League games when he was 14. Eight years later decided that high school and college baseball weren't enough. He wanted to go pro.

So he quit college and a job as a teacher's aide, shelled out $2,800 and followed the dream all the way to Florida. After five weeks he joined the nation's elite as one of 22 umpires offered jobs by the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.

"It was a big risk," Harris said. "You put stuff on hold - your life on hold - and pay all that money and don't know if it will work out. It was a big gamble."

Umpire Joe Harris. (Ernest Coleman photo)

Harris, a 1999 Reading High graduate who once led the basketball team in scoring and rebounding, enrolled in the Harry Wendelstedt School for Umpires in Daytona Beach, Fla., from Jan. 2 to Feb. 7. Abandoning his University of Cincinnati classes and an assistantship at Taft Elementary, the 22-year-old knew having a baseball passion didn't necessarily ensure a job.

Six days a week, Harris was among 200 hopefuls learning the ins and outs of the professional game. The umpiring students learned in a classroom setting from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. every day, then took their skills to the playing field until 6 p.m., Harris said.

The students were tested every day. Harris, who described himself as an "average student" otherwise, cruised through 25 exams. He was one of 25 students selected to advance to the next umpiring level, the Professional Baseball Umpire Corp. evaluation course.

"You had to size everyone up from the beginning because only 25 of us got to go. I'd come home from training and study my rulebook for two hours every night," Harris said.

Years of baseball experience didn't prepare Harris for the complicated scenarios and hair-splitting rules the pros are required to enforce. The proper ruling of the strike zone, fair-foul ball rulings and catch-no catch rulings were among the things Harris thought he knew, but was re-taught.

The Wendelstedt School scholars joined 25 scholars from the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring in a 10-day training session. There they umpired a game daily, Harris said, under heavy scrutiny by a panel of major-league umpires. The pressure didn't help: Of the 50 aspiring umpires, only 22 were recommended for job openings, Harris said.

Mike Fitzpatrick, executive director of PBUC, confirmed that Harris qualified for placement in one of the leagues and will receive his assignment in early May.

Harris will umpire games in the Cincinnati area before being dispatched to the Class-A Short Season and Rookie leagues. He expects to reach the major leagues in eight to 10 years.

Even if the dream hadn't come to fruition, Harris said the journey has been rewarding.

"Oh yeah," Harris said. "Even if I didn't get a job, this would've been worth it."

Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy/Fairfield

Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy's Level 5 compulsory team won the U.S.A. Gymnastics Level 5 Ohio State Championships at Fairfield High School March 27-28. The meet included 24 teams from the southern half of Ohio, competing on vault, bars, beam and floor. CGA's 30-member team includes young women from Greater Cincinnati ages 7-11. Individual age group All-Around state champions include Anna Gortner (Fairfield), 8-and-under division; Delaney Wilder (West Chester), 8-and-under division; Mary Hennekes (West Chester), 9-year-old division and Jessica Evans (Middletown), 10-year-old division.

Event champions were: Vault - Gortner, Hennekes, Maile Spencer (Reading), Evans; Beam - Gortner, Wilder; Floor - Gortner, Wilder, Taylor Murray (West Chester), Elise Rohr (Fairfield), Hennekes; and Bars - Gortner, Rohr, Murray and Hennekes. "This was unbelievable team with talent and determination," said Sharon Lichey, Junior Olympic compulsory program director and Level 5 head coach.

Cincinnati Martial Arts Club/Western Hills

Five student-athletes brought home big hardware from the Arnold Martial Arts World Games, hosted by California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, March 5-7 in Columbus.

The athletes competed in the Tae Kwon Do portion of the games, which included a variety of martial arts, like kung fu, jujitsu, karate and stick fighting. Eric Araujo (Delhi), 7, won a bronze medal; Samantha Shelby (Bridgetown), 8, won a gold and silver medal; Nick Shelby (Bridgetown) 10, won a gold; Michael Waddle (Delhi), 12, won two golds and a silver medal; and Brittany Wells (Delhi), 12, won two golds and a bronze. The international competition brought athletes from as far away as Germany and Japan.

"We were mildly surprised when the students did that well, but of course we are very pleased," said Master Instructor McDuffie Strickland, who trained the students with instructor Jeff Robison. The governor made an appearance at the games but was "well protected," Strickland said. Wells said she panicked when he walked by. "I was yelling and waving, 'Mr. Terminator! Mr. Terminator!' " Wells said. "I couldn't remember his real name."